44% of dumpsites identified for remediation cleared: Govt

New Delhi, Dec 11 (PTI) Forty-four per cent of dump sites that have been identified for remediation have been cleared so far, leading to the reclamation of around 7,900 acre of land, the Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday.

In a written reply to a question, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu said that a total of 15.20 crore MT (61 per cent) of waste has been remediated by clearing 1,096 dumpsites.

The minister said that under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) 2.0, central assistance is provided for setting up all types of waste management projects, including waste to energy plants.

So far, action plans sent by state and Union territories for setting up waste to electricity plants of 4,462 TPD and bio-methanation plants of 8701.50 TPD have been approved, with a total project cost of Rs 2,318 crore, out of which Rs 698.29 crore is the central share.

As per reports received from states/UTs, 16 waste-to-electricity plants (18,900 TPD) are functional at present and 6 plants (5,550 TPD) are under construction, he said.

"A total of 2,478 dumpsites (with more than 1,000 tonnes of waste) having 25.04 crore MT of waste have been identified for remediation.

"So far, 1096 dumpsites have been remediated completely and 986 sites are under progress. A cumulative of 15.20 crore MT (61 per cent) of waste has been remediated and 7903.47 acres (52 per cent) land has been reclaimed," the minister added.

He said that 500 new "waste-to-wealth" plants under the Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan (GOBARdhan) are to be established for promoting the circular economy.

Accordingly, a total of 145 compressed biogas (CBG) plants, which includes 53 plants under SBM-U 2.0, 65 plants taken up by oil and gas marketing companies and 27 state funded plants, are being set-up with cumulative capacity of 20,155 TPD under GOBARdhan scheme.

At present, 17 bio-methanation plants with a designed capacity of 1,910 TPD are operational, he also added. PTI BUN SKY SKY